David Stubbs (I)

There have been sceptical noises made about the latest series, suggesting that it's lapsing into self-parody and dull convention. However, it remains by a long distance the finest mainstream British sitcom of recent years. Tonight's isn't the strongest episode, mind, revolving around the parents' evening for Ben, who at 11 is emerging as a distinctly unusual boy. Meanwhile, we see Karen undergo a rare moment of hurt. Stick with this series; it ends magnificently.

Someday, TV will succeed in its long quest to find a settled role for Jo Brand and we'll all live happily ever after. Meanwhile, in this new series for Dave, Brand defies her reputation as the least physically inclined of comedians by plunging into water, in all its various British manifestations. In between bouts of standup, we'll see her criss-crossing the country in her custom-made swimsuit, leading the charge through sewerage systems and grey seas. Tonight, accompanied by Sean Lock, she assays the Maldon Mud Race. It's giving nothing away to reveal that she gets covered in mud.

Sarah Hooper's series about the perky goings on in a recession-untroubled Mancunian suburb is billed as comedy drama, as if to suggest you're getting two things for the price of one, but in truth it's short on both, unless you count hackneyed sexual intrigue as drama and affected, sub-Coronation Street dialogue as comedy. It's comfort telly, relying on a cast of familiar faces including Pauline Collins, Tommy Ball, Angela Griffin and Sally Lindsay as Lisa, whose over-indulgent lunches lead to speculation that she is pregnant.

Reeves and Mortimer's comedy has not dimmed with age and time - if anything, it has got more knobs and bells on than ever before, as this latest series of the surefire Shooting Stars attests. They have got the bonus of ironic-ish dancing girls this time round, as well as the familiar presences of Ulrika-ka-ka, Jack Dee and Angelos. Guests looking on in mute helplessness at the comedic fare include James "The Yorkshire Pudding" Martin and "Dennis - sorry, Brigitte" Nielsen, who, it is fair to guess, had probably not seen Shooting Stars before her participation in it.

Another tale of courageous, essential frontline servicemen and women coping with their baser, animal selves. Tonight, when the anti-maternal boss Woodvine hints that she might break up the cosy paramedic trio, Stuart and Rachid lock horns to see which of them is the alpha male of the group - the cleverest or the biggest? Meanwhile, Ashley seeks out action whenever the opportunity arises, and Maxine, accused of being "unyielding" in the sack by her internet date, is determined to play the submissive female for their next encounter.

The second episode of Brian Fillis's comedy-drama set among Leeds paramedics is really finding its rhythm. Stuart's thus-far platonic relationship with police sergeant Maxine is the most intriguing of the series but this week, he finds himself dating a student and facing stress-related underperformance problems under the duvet. With a studiously mixed cast of characters (gay, Muslim, female, bloke), all doing serious jobs, Sirens successfully gets away with a lot of boisterous laddishness.

Created by Brian Fillis and inspired by paramedic Brian Kellett's blog and subsequent book, Sirens has a slightly stylised, "written" air about it, but once you adjust to that, this six-part comedy-drama is a treat. In tonight's opener, we meet Stuart, Rachid and Ashley, three paramedics who would seem like sorry specimens of 21st-century British manhood if they weren't performing heroic frontline services on the drunken streets of West Yorkshire. After a dramatic opening, a counsellor advises them to be prepared for the emotional rollercoaster of an adrenaline rush, horniness, then depression, but Stuart is determined to be "master of my own biology".

David Walliams hosts this addition to the already rather large pile of lighthearted topical panel shows with celebrity guests. Ostensibly about the week's events, the subject matter skews more to the Simon Cowell wing of current affairs, as a giant wall featuring the 25 faces who have garnered the most column inches attests. Two teams are quizzed to test the proximity of their fingers to the pulse of relentless tabloid chit-chat. Seems rather a soft career choice for Walliams this, but perhaps he will bring a superior touch of class to the occasion.

The return of the standup show in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital, something you may need to bear in mind as you resentfully endure the comedy stylings of Chris Moyles. He's joined, however, by Sarah Millican, Dara O'Briain, Jack Dee, Lee Evans and Jonathan Ross. There are musical contributions from Dead Cat Bounce and those young scamps N-Dubz, as well as video appearances from Lady Gaga, Russell Brand, Whoopi Goldberg and Patrick Stewart. Rob Brydon also chips in.

Because heaven forbid that he should simply be allowed to stand on stage, interact with an audience and be funny, here's yet another new TV format for Al Murray's pub landlord, which he's been touting live for a while. He hosts a pub-style quiz in which ordinary contestants vie with a VIP celebrity team for the prize of a frozen chicken. There's no mercy for the defeated - "It's time for losers to lose!" - they must slope away to the jeering chant of "thick and slow". Thankfully there's plenty of "beautiful British name"-style opening banter. "Dog groomer? Disgusting. What do you do, make friends with them on Facebook?"